Public Invited to Free Lecture at NASA Goddard: Archeology from Space

GREENBELT, Md., March 4, 2013 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The public is invited to a free event on March 13 at the Visitor's Center at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., to experience "Archeology from Space" presented by Dr. Compton Tucker, senior Earth scientist at NASA's Biospheric Sciences Branch Laboratory for Terrestrial Physics.

In his presentation, Tucker will explain how he used NASA technology in central Turkey during the hottest part of the summer to search for buried treasure. Deep in the countryside of Gordian (home of the famous knot and King Midas), Tucker and his team used cutting-edge NASA technology, including magnetometers and ground-penetrating radar to assist in the excavation of ancient tombs. Despite the age of these tombs, time is very much of the essence: Tucker and his teams were racing against tomb robbers to find undisturbed tombs filled with archeological treasures.

Tucker has broad experience in remote sensing research and applications and is focused on Earth systems research through the use of satellite remote sensing. Tucker is director of the Global Monitoring and Modeling Studies group at Goddard. He has ongoing projects on tropical forest monitoring, remote sensing of disease vectors and famine early warning. He has taught remote sensing in the Department of Geology at the University of Maryland, College Park.

The talk is part of the Gerald Soffen Lecture Series and will be held at the Goddard Visitor Center on Wednesday, March 13, 2013, at 7 p.m. EST (doors will open at 6:45 p.m.). The free talk is about one hour and will end with a question and answer session.

The Gerald Soffen lecture series is dedicated to Dr. Gerald Soffen (1926-2000). Soffen led the science team for NASA's Viking program, was director of life sciences at NASA, project scientist for NASA's Earth Observing System, and created NASA Academy, NASA's premiere leadership training internship. The Viking 2 lander and a crater on Mars were named for Soffen. He was best known, however, for his passion for inspiring the next generation of scientists and engineers.

The Goddard Visitor Center is located off Greenbelt Road. After turning onto ICESat Road, turn left into the Visitor Center prior to the security checkpoint. Visitors are welcome to attend without pre-registration. Attendees who have submitted pre-registration forms, however, will have seating priority. Overflow seating may be required to accommodate all guests.